


What a Human Deserves

by FlightlessAngelWings



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Drama, F/F, First Kiss, Kissing, Mutual Pining, Outer Space, Pining, Protectiveness, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightlessAngelWings/pseuds/FlightlessAngelWings
Summary: You thought you were discreet with your crush on the time lord, but apparently you weren’t. One time, Ryan had caught you staring at the Doctor while she was piloting the ship, and he hadn’t stopped teasing you since. And ever since then, every time your gaze lingered on the blonde, or you bit your lip while she talked, or got flustered when she stood close to you, one of your three friends would rag on you for it. Thankfully, the Doctor seemed not to notice. Or if she did, she didn’t say anything. You weren’t sure if you were grateful for that or not.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	What a Human Deserves

The TARDIS felt very quiet with just you and the Doctor there. The rest of the fam all decided to take some time to be with their family and friends for the day, which left just the two of you on a solo trip. Although, you had your suspicions that Yaz, Ryan and Graham had another motivation for leaving you alone with the Doctor…

You thought you were discreet with your crush on the time lord, but apparently you weren’t. One time, Ryan had caught you staring at the Doctor while she was piloting the ship, and he hadn’t stopped teasing you since. And ever since then, every time your gaze lingered on the blonde, or you bit your lip while she talked, or got flustered when she stood close to you, one of your three friends would rag on you for it. Thankfully, the Doctor seemed not to notice. Or if she did, she didn’t say anything. You weren’t sure if you were grateful for that or not.

“You ready?” her voice broke you out of your thoughts. The Doctor stood at the controls with her hand on the main lever.

“Ready,” you smiled at her and you felt your heart jump when she smiled back. The way her blonde hair framed her beautiful face made her look like the sun. You watched as your brow furrowed as she focused on the lever and switches. And with no one around to poke fun, your thoughts drifted off into your own little fantasy land.

You didn’t even notice that the TARDIS had landed until the Doctor’s face suddenly appeared right in front of you. Her face was just inches from yours as she spoke your name.

You jumped as you brought yourself back to the present, “Sorry, what did you say?” You tried to keep your face from blushing.

She couldn’t help a soft chuckle, “I said we’re here,” she took you by your hand, “Come on, let’s see where we ended up!”

This was something new; the Doctor never took your hand like that unless she was pulling you out of a dangerous situation. You tried not to think too much into it as you let her lead you out of the blue box and onto an alien planet.

The planet was absolutely beautiful. It was night, and the first thing you noticed was that there were two moons in the sky. The extra light made the planet much brighter than Earth was at nighttime, and all you could see was blue tinted mountains along with some lakes and rivers. There didn’t seem to be anyone around and you and the Doctor took a few minutes to take in the surroundings.

“It’s beautiful,” your voice was no louder than a whisper. You were so entranced by the planet that you didn’t notice the time lord stare at you. The look on her face mirrored the look you had when you looked at her. If only you noticed.

It was then at you realized she was still holding your hand. Your breath caught in your throat as you tensed suddenly. “Sorry,” you mumbled as you pulled away and shuffled in embarrassment.

The Doctor didn’t say anything, but she was amused at your behavior. It was nice for her to not be the only awkward person in the room. “Care to explore a bit?” she offered.

With a nod, you followed her over one of the hills toward what looked like an abandoned settlement. She scanned the area with her sonic and explained that you were in the far future on a planet not too far out from the solar system. It looked like there was once a mining colony, and you guessed that this was once a big and thriving city. Now, all the stood was ruins save for one large building in the center of the ghost town.

It was that building that the Doctor led you to. She resisted the urge to take your hand again, and opted just to stay close to you. There was something about this place that gave her a bad feeling, and that feeling only grew as you got closer to the large structure. This place looked different than the rest of the planet: like it was the only place where something still lived.

Yours and the Doctor’s footsteps and conversation were the only sounds in the entire town. As you got to the entrance of the large building, she perked up with curiosity and bolted around the room. You watched with admiration as she inspected the dormant technology and the architecture.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said with wonder in her voice as she practically bounced around the room.

You lingered in the doorway and watched her with what you were sure was a stupid smile. But you didn’t care, the others weren’t here to tease you right now. The room was grand and made mostly of some type of stone. In the moonlight it almost sparkled, and the way the light reflected against the time lord made her look ethereal.

The floors had some type of design on it: overlapping circles and star-like shapes decorated the entire space except for the first few feet at the entrance. Something about it tugged at your own curiosity and you took a few steps into the room to check it out.

That is when the atmosphere in the room completely changed.

As soon as you reached where the designs started, the room shook as if it started to come alive. The Doctor quickly spun around and looked at you in fear. Not fear for her own life though, but for yours. She shouted out your name as she tried to rush over to you. But she was too late. The floor underneath you shifted and pulled you down as you screamed. It was as if the solid floor suddenly turned into quicksand for a few moments to pull you down before it turned solid again.

She reached you just a second too late and you were gone. The time lord landed on the floor and yelled your name again. Panicked, she scanned with her sonic for any trace of you.

Nothing.

Her breath became ragged as the room started to come to life around her. Large 8-foot-tall creatures with silver and blue skin seemed to emerge from the walls and surrounded the time lord. They had human-like features but they looked like they were made out of stone. The Doctor got to her feet to meet with the planet natives, and she hoped that you were ok.

“Who are you to trespass here with a human?” one asked in a deep voice. He seemed to be the leader.

The blonde collected herself, ready to bargain for your life, “We’re just travelers. Just passing through,” she kept her voice level. They didn’t immediately attack, so maybe they could be reasoned with. “Where is my companion?”

The leader snarled, “The human is on the other side of the planet by now. And my best hunter is preparing to track her down and kill her.” Anger lined his words, but there was also a hint of sadness and hurt there as well.

Right now, the Doctor’s main focus was to save you. Once you were safe, then she could work with this species and get at the underlying reason for their behavior. “I supposed there’s no possibility you could just let me take her and we go on our way is there?”

He seemed offended at the question, “Absolutely not. The human must die, as is the punishment for any human to step foot on this planet, in these halls.”

She thought for a moment. There had to be a way around this. Then, she came up with an idea. “How about a race then?” she offered.

The leader cocked an eyebrow, “A race?”

Good, she got his interest, “Yes,” she paced around to address everyone in the room, “Me against your best hunter. I win, we leave this planet and I make sure no humans ever come here again. I promise you that.”

Murmurs ran through the small crowd before they turned to their leader for his decision. “Very well,” he said after several minutes. “If my hunter gets to her first, however, she dies. This is my bargain.”

“Fine,” she gritted her teeth. She didn’t like this at all, but there was no other choice. The crowd parted to let her through, and the Doctor ran as fast as she could. “Hang on,” she whispered your name to herself, “I’m coming for you,” I’m not going to let anything happen to you, she added in her head.

Meanwhile, you regained consciousness after the fall knocked you out and found yourself at the bottom of a large pit. Your head pounded as you tried to push yourself up. The task proved harder than you expected, and you looked down and realized that your hands were bound together in front of you by a heavy chain. The chain was connected to the floor, and there wasn’t much slack so your movement was very limited. Slowly, you were able to get yourself into a standing position. That is when you noticed you were being watched.

“It’s useless to try to escape, human,” the guard was one of the natives of the planet, and he carried multiple weapons on him. You also could make out some kind of communication device on his hand. Obviously, these people were very technologically advanced. That was probably why they were able to hide themselves so well, but you wondered why they would have to hide on their own planet.

You rubbed your temples to try and calm your head, “I believe you,” was all you said in response. You let out a heavy sigh as you wondered what happened to the Doctor. You hoped she was ok. “Do you mind if I ask your name?” you turned up to him.

He seemed caught off guard. The guard hesitated before he answered you, “Neygan,” he finally answered.

You gave him a little wave from your bound hands as you told him your name, “So Neygan, what is all this? Why did the floor suck me in like that? Why am I chained up at the bottom of a pit? Where is the Doctor?” The questions helped to keep your mind from completely panicking. You figured the worst you could do in the moment was annoy him; it’s not like your situation could get any worse.

He did seem annoyed, but he also seemed curious as well. So, he indulged your questions to an extent. “Humans are forbidden on this planet, especially in the royal palace,” his tone was bitter as he spoke, “I’m here to guard you until the winner of the race gets here. Which will be our champion, not your…Doctor.”

“Race?”

He sighed, “Your…” he couldn’t come up with what to call her, “Friend. She challenged our best hunter to a race to get to you. She wins, you can leave. She loses, we get to watch you die,” the way he ended his explanation sounded like an unspoken “which is what you deserve.”

Your heart caught in your chest. The Doctor was willing to risk everything to race across an alien planet to save your life. Tears threatened your eyes from the emotions that filled you, but you fought them back. The last thing you wanted in that moment was for this guy to think you were weak.

The guard looked at you, clearly confused as he studied your reactions. He stayed silent, however.

After you collected yourself, you broke the silence. You couldn’t let your mind get away from you. “Is this the first time you’ve talked to a human?” you asked.

Neygan tried to ignore you, but for some reason he felt compelled to answer. “Yes,” was all he said.

You shifted to sit down on the ground. The chains were starting to get too heavy for you to hold up. “Hey,” your voice was soft, the question on your mind wasn’t an easy one but it was one that you felt needed to be asked, “Why do you hate humans so much? Did something happen?”

That sparked a fresh wave of anger in him as he snapped back at you, “Did something happen?!” he repeated your words in a mocking tone that made you flinch, “Everything happened! We offered peace and trade to humans, and they took everything from us! They stripped our land bare when they realized how valuable the minerals were! They hunted us for sport! Humans are cruel creatures that do not deserve to live!” the ground almost trembled with his bellowing shout.

Terrified, you curled yourself up as your shook from his words. You felt as if he beat you with his words alone. You buried your head in your arms as you listened to his deep breaths of anger. After a few minutes, he seemed to calm himself down and you slowly uncurled yourself to look up at him. It was then you saw the sadness in his face, and guilt overtook you.

“I’m really sorry,” you spoke in such a soft voice that you weren’t sure if he heard you. You watched him for a moment and saw him slowly drop his shoulders before he looked you directly in the eyes for the first time.

The anger in his eyes faded, and it seemed like you and the alien came to a wordless understanding. “I have to admit, you’re not what I expected,” he said.

You gave him a soft smile, and it looked like he was about to give you one in return when his communicator beeped. His face dropped as he turned his back to you to answer. You scrambled to your feet in an attempt to listen, but you couldn’t hear anything. When he turned back around, his face was unreadable. He raised his arm to activate a remote switch and told you, “I’ve never said this to a human before, but I truly am sorry,” before he pushed the button and the pit you were in started to fill up with water.

You gasped as you nervously looked around for a way out. You tried to pull the chains and tried to climb out of the pit, but it was no use. The water filled the space quickly and before you knew it, the water was already at your knees. You looked up at Neygan desperately, but his face was stoic. You let out a scream as your whole body shook in panic.

Over the sound of the rushing water, you thought you heard a familiar voice call your name. You looked up from the water, which was now at your waist, and shouted back, “Doctor?!”

The sound of your name again confirmed it was her. You called for her again and hoped that she would find you before the water completely engulfed you.

Tired and out of breath, the Doctor ran as fast as she could. She dove head first through all the obstacles the planet threw at her in order to reach you. Sweat lined her brow and her legs threatened to give out in exhaustion, but she pushed through it. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if she didn’t reach you in time. She managed to stay a step ahead of her opponent throughout the race, and she was so close now. In the distance, she could see the one who guarded you in your pit, and she sprinted towards him.

Her thoughts were only on you as her hearts pounded in her chest: I’m coming, I’m almost there. Just hang on.

By the time she reached the top of the pit, the only part of you that wasn’t underwater was the top of your head. She locked eyes with yours before they too disappeared under the water. The Doctor wasted no time and quickly shed her coat off before she dove in after you. The pit wasn’t too deep and she reached you quickly. You were barely awake, and you were struggling to hold your breath.

She cupped your face to reassure you before she pulled her sonic out of her pants pocket. A onceover on the chain was all it took to unlock them, and she grabbed you tightly to pull you up to the surface. She gasped and grunted as she pulled your now unconscious body out of the water and onto dry land.

“Come on, wake up,” she pleaded with you as she started compressions on your chest. Her hands shook with fear as she chanted your name and begged you to wake up.

It was only a few seconds, but to the time lord, it felt like forever until you woke up with a cough. She dropped her head and sighed in relief as you opened your eyes.

“Doctor,” you whispered as a weak smile grew on your face.

She held back tears of relief as she cupped your cheek, “You’re ok. It’s ok,” she sounded out of breath, but she still gathered her strength to help you up. She grabbed her coat and wrapped it around you once you were steady on your feet.

The hunter ran up to you then, followed by the leader and a few others from the palace. The Doctor swiftly pushed you behind her and shielded you with her body. “It’s over,” she told them, “I got to her first fair and square. Now you let her go and I promise no humans will ever bother you again.” She spoke to them with authority as she fiercely protected you.

The group looked disappointed as they turned to their leader. He definitely looked angry and disappointed that his champion didn’t win, but he was a man of his word. “Very well,” he said, “But just know, human,” he addressed you directly, “You don’t deserve to leave this planet.”

That angered the Doctor, “How do you know that? You don’t know anything about her, and yet you decided she deserves to die! What is your grudge against humans anyway?”

Before the leader could snap back, you intervened, “Wait!” you slid around to place yourself next to the Doctor. She looked at you with concern, but you squeezed her hand in silent reassurance. “You’re right,” you started but paused when everyone let out a gasp, “I know why you hate humans so much, and honestly I can’t blame you. Humans have done terrible things, even to our own people,” you scoffed before you continued, “I know none of this is personally my fault, but if we don’t start to take responsibility, nothing will change. So, for what it’s worth: I’m sorry.”

The natives all looked shocked and had no idea what to do. The leader took in your words before he waved you and the Doctor off, “Just get out of here.”

Before she turned to leave, the Doctor added, “You have my word. No humans will bother you again,” and with your hand still in hers, she led you back to the TARDIS.

“Are you alright?” the Doctor frantically checked you over once you were safely inside the ship.

You answered in a shaky voice, “I’m fine,” you looked up to meet her eyes and it almost didn’t register how close she was to you. The control room was silent for a minute as neither of you knew what to say next.

It was the Doctor who broke the silence, “You’re wrong you know.”

“What?”

“About what humans deserve,” she clarified, “Sure, there are humans who hurt and destroy like you said. But you don’t give yourself enough credit. Humans are amazing, wonderful people who are capable of so much good,” she looked at you tenderly before she cupped her hand on the side of your face, “And one of my favorite people in the entire universe is a human.”

Your eyes went wide as your breath caught in your chest. You could feel your heart pounding and you were sure you were blushing hard.

She then added, “And all I want to do right now is kiss my favorite person,” she bit her lip as her eyes glanced down at your lips, “If that’s ok.”

You swallowed hard before you answered, “Then why don’t you?” you wrapped your arms around her waist and pulled her against your body.

With your blessing, the Doctor placed her soft lips on yours in a sweet kiss. She wrapped her arms around you and held you tightly, as if she was afraid to lose you. You immediately deepened the kiss and parted your lips so that her tongue could enter your mouth and dance with yours. The control room glowed a warm amber as you and the Doctor shared your first kiss.

You reluctantly broke away for air, but stayed locked in the Doctor’s arms. The feeling of her wrapped tightly around you couldn’t compare to anything else, and you never wanted this moment to end. Both of you broke out into a soft laughter as the rough events of the day melted away and all that mattered was each other.

“Wait here a sec,” the Doctor seemed to remember something as she ran to the console. She explained as she worked that she was setting up a barrier on the planet so humans wouldn’t find it. Then she set a course for home, “Shall we get back to the fam?” she asked as she held out her hand.

With a smile, you happily took it. “I have the feeling someone is winning a bet when we get back,” you nuzzled against her as you both burst into laughter and headed home.

**Author's Note:**

> This really got away from me and ended up so much longer than I planned to! And I had the hardest time figuring out a title for some reason.  
> Follow my writing tumblr @FlightlessAngelWings for more works!


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